Gravitation
by Arimi
Summary: After an impromptu reunion, Van and Hitomi are whisked off to an unfamiliar world. They find new friends and an enemy, who will do anything to keep them from returning to Gaea.


Gravitation  
By Arimi  
  
Author's Note: This is the fic that I am most proud of, and is the result of much   
brainstorming and outlining. It is an epic of sorts, and was spawned from what was going   
to be simple romance into a beautiful romantic fantasy,. It is something I like to read, and   
that is surprising since most of the time I read my work I feel a bit self conscious.  
  
Anyways I hope you enjoy this story, and please share with me what you think of it.  
  
Disclaimer: Vision of Escaflowne is the property of Sunrise and Bandai, I lay no claim over   
it whatsoever.   
Chapter 1: The Reoccurrence of Chaos  
  
She awoke to the steady beeping of the alarm clock She rolled from her side onto her back   
and took a few moments to gaze at the ceiling. Outside her window was the gray of mists   
that she always saw in the morning. Another day, another ordinary day. She felt like she   
was going to scream. It would be relief, relief from the extreme boredom that had been   
hanging around for the past week.  
  
She climbed out of bed and slipped on black leggings, she changed into a black sports bra   
and put a gray hoodie over it and tied her shoulder length blonde hair into a pony tail. It   
had been the first time in her life that her hair had gone past her ears. It fit though, she   
had grown out of the gawkiness of her teens and finally comfortable in her skin. She had   
filled out and the last of her baby fat had disappeared. Hitomi Kanzaki had finally grown up.  
  
She grabbed her white Nike running shoes and hurriedly slipped them on. She went down   
to the kitchen to find a note from her mother telling her that she had taken her brother out   
to shop for new clothes, and that she left some money for her if she was going to do   
something with Yukari later. She slipped it into a pocket on her hoodie and went out the   
door and proceeded with her daily morning jog. She relaxed as she ran with the cool   
morning breeze.  
  
Her jog was the escape of her day, it was a time when she could think without worry of   
disruption. Graduation had been a week earlier and had left a sort of emptiness in Hitomi's   
life, without the normalcy of school she had to find other activities to fill up her day. And   
with Yukari's news it had been one hell of a week.  
  
A bit of sadness came over her when she thought of her friend. Amano had recently   
returned from England, (his father had been transferred back) and Yukari had been   
spending most of her time with him. Hitomi excused her, she knew how much her friend   
missed him. But two days earlier Yukari had come to her doorstep in pure elation. Hitomi   
anxious to know what it was all about quickly interrogated her friend. Well, it had seemed   
that the night before Amano had taken Yukari to a really fancy Italian restaurant, and they   
had spent most of the time talking of the future and than as he was walking her up to the   
doorstep he had proposed.  
  
Hitomi had been shocked, she knew how much they cared for each other but marriage. She   
asked Yukari how her parents had reacted, and Yukari said that they were shocked at first   
but they had explained it would be a long engagement, and that nothing was settled yet.   
She then gushed that Hitomi would have to be her maid of honor, and how wonderful her   
life would be.   
  
Hitomi listened and showed a good deal more enthusiasm then she had felt. Marriage was a   
huge step, and this meant that Yukari would be spending even more time with Amano. A   
part of her had that feeling that she was losing her best friend. And for the last two days   
she had been trying to convince herself that that was the only reason that she was unhappy   
of Yukari's engagement. She knew that a part of her was jealous. She had told Yukari this   
yesterday and a look of worry had crossed Yukari's face.  
  
"Are you jealous because you are still in love with Amano?" Yukari asked.  
  
Hitomi had been surprised at first, because that notion had never crossed her mind, but she   
regained her senses and realized that it was natural for Yukari to that think that. Hitomi   
knew that it had been Yukari's longtime fear that she still harbored feeling for Amano, after   
all it had been so sudden that conversation two and half years ago when Hitomi had told her   
that she wasn't in love with Amano anymore and that Yukari should confess her feelings for   
him, using much the same argument that Yukari had given her earlier. Yukari had of course   
asked why, and Hitomi had said that something had changed and she just didn't feel the   
same way anymore, and put an end to the conversation.  
  
That memory always gave her a bit of pain, because it did bring back memories of why she   
didn't love Amano anymore, and she didn't want to admit to herself that they hurt her more   
than she would like to know. She stopped when she reached the shoreline and stared out   
at the horizon and wondered again for what was most likely the millionth time if things   
should have been different, and whether she had been as happy to return as she had   
expected to be.  
  
That first year after had been one of denial, and in order to be able to keep denying that   
she felt something missing she spent her days with Yukari shopping or going to movies, and   
even reading shoujo manga, something that she had never been prone to do. She had even   
gone on a few dates. Most of the boys had known that she had had eyes for Amano, but   
when it was clear that he was out of the picture they had been in instant rushing for her   
favor, and she had felt obliged to accept some of them.  
  
The dates never went off well; not that they were dates from hell or anything. They were   
always too polite, too formal. The boy would always try to engage her in conversation and   
she had trouble staying in one, her mind would always wonder. So she gave up dating, find   
that they were beginning to become uncomfortable, and the offers began to stop coming.   
She began to spend most of her time dedicated to school and track. They were the   
constants, they drove away those feeling of loneliness that always seemed ready to come to   
the forefront of thoughts.  
  
The second year became one of detachment, she could not get too personal with anyone   
and at sometimes it was hard to talk with Yukari. She did not feel comfortable around   
people anymore. It wasn't a lack of trust. No, it was the indifference that had begun to her   
envelope her life. She became indifferent to things that happened, and what people said.   
She simply seemed to care. Yukari had tried to snap her out of it, and tried to get her back   
to the cheerful girl who she had known to be, but Hitomi wondered if that cheerful girl still   
existed.  
  
She tried not to think about it. Actually she tried not to think about HIM. She tried to   
become indifferent but she couldn't. She had to become indifferent to everything else, but   
she couldn't be indifferent to him. Parts of her wanted to curse him for it, and parts of her   
wanted to curse herself for it. And than she would curse the thing for happening, and even   
curse her grandmother for even giving her that blasted pendant. And then shame would   
overcome her for even thinking those thoughts.  
  
Things would have been simpler, she admitted to herself. If it had not happened she would   
probably be perfectly content with her life the way it was right now. She would have been   
happier for Yukari (although Yukari probably wouldn't be engaged to Amano right now if the   
events in question hadn't happened). And she wouldn't be bored. But then she told herself   
that such thoughts were useless.  
  
She turned away from the horizon and began to jog her way back to her home. Yukari   
would probably be calling her any minute, and she knew how Yukari hated having to leave a   
message on an answering machine. When she arrived home and satisfied herself that   
Yukari had not called while she was out, and figured she wouldn't call for another half hour   
and she jumped in the shower to wash off the sheen of sweat that always came with any   
type of exercise. When she was done she slipped herself into khaki stretch pants, and a   
dark green boat necked tee with quarter length sleeves. She put in a thin head band in her   
hair to keep it out of her face and she stared at herself in the mirror.  
  
Even though she had lost the lankiness of a teenager, she still questioned herself on   
whether she was beautiful. To a viewer she was, with her long legs, slim torso, breasts   
which were neither too big nor too small, and the brilliance of her emerald green eyes, but a   
person always tends to be harsher on themselves than others and she would always   
subconsciously pick up on some minor flaw. She was just noticing a slight blemish on her   
lower chin (it took awhile to notice it) when she heard the door bell ring.  
  
She was surprised to find that it was Yukari, who had decided to forego calling her and just   
showing up at her doorstep. Yukari was looking brilliant, especially with the smile that she   
had been wearing for the past week.  
  
"Well, don't you look great, Hitomi," she said, as she walked in; she knew that there was no   
need for her to be invited in.  
  
"As do you," Hitomi said and did a mock curtsy to her friend, "so Yukari what are we going   
to do today."  
  
"Well, I was thinking we would go see a movie and have lunch. I think a new film from   
America has just been released," Yukari said, "and there is this new French café has just   
opened downtown. Can you believe our town has become so international?"  
  
Hitomi shook her head, "Well that's sounds good. My mom isn't here but she left me   
money. What time does the movie start?"  
  
"Not til one, but we can just go window shopping for now," Yukari said.  
  
The girls walked from shop to shop admiring the displays, and conversing on several   
different subjects. On the whole the day was going quite well for Hitomi. They settled at   
the French café which was called La Petite Café.  
  
"Do you think I should have a spring wedding, Hitomi?" Yukari asked looking thoughtfully at   
the sky.  
  
Hitomi raised her eyebrow at her friend.  
  
"Isn't it a little early to be planning your wedding, Yukari? You promised your parents a   
very long engagement," she replied.  
  
"No, it is never to early. I have been planning my wedding since I was five," Yukari said,   
smiling at her friend, who when she was five would rather have been messing around in the   
mud.  
  
"Well in that case, don't have a spring wedding, spring is too humid and muddy, and there   
is a lot of rain. Even if it is going to be indoors you still want it to be a nice day," Hitomi   
said.  
  
"Yeah you're right. What time of year would you have it?" Yukari asked, not really expecting   
her friend to answer.  
  
Hitomi thought for a moment, not at all put off by Yukari's question.  
  
"I would want an autumn wedding. You know, just before the leaves begin to fall, with all   
the brilliant reds and oranges," Hitomi said.  
  
"Wow, that would be beautiful, I underestimated you, I didn't know you thought about that   
kind of stuff," Yukari I said.  
  
Hitomi feigned mock disbelief.  
  
"Despite my few tomboy tendencies, I AM a girl. I think about what I want my wedding to   
be like," Hitomi answered.  
  
"And what do you want your wedding to look like?" Yukari asked, interested to know what   
Hitomi wanted, since Hitomi never talked about such things.  
  
Hitomi slipped into a thoughtful silence. She conjured up images that she would sometimes   
use to comfort her in her loneliness, and gathered up the words to describe them.  
  
"Well it would be small and intimate," Hitomi started, "you know, with only our closest   
friends and family members. And it would be outdoors, and the leaves will just begin to fall   
from the trees. It would be in the late afternoon, you know when it is cool and comfortable.   
My dress would be a simple white with a square neckline, and my veil would be thin. And   
my husband-to-be would look at me and smile, and take my hand, and I would know at that   
moment that no one else could make me as happy as he does," she said with a wistful tone.  
  
She could almost see his eyes, looking that her, an intimate gentleness in them that she   
knew he let only a few see. And she could almost feel his hand in hers, and how they were   
warm and confident. She could almost feel herself melt as if her were really there gazing at   
her with love. But it left when she heard Yukari sigh.  
  
"That was beautiful Hitomi," she said, "but don't worry I won't steal it from you, except the   
husband smiling part."  
  
Hitomi nodded, feeling a bit giddy from her daydream, and couldn't find a sufficient answer   
to her friend's comment. They ate in silence for a moment, and Hitomi was about to ask   
Yukari about Amano, when who should walk up them but Amano.  
  
"Amano-kun!" Yukari squealed and ran over to her boyfriend and latched herself to his right   
arm.  
  
Amano smiled indulgently at his girlfriend and knelt down and gave her a quick kiss before   
dislodging her from his arm and turned to Hitomi and wrapped her in a friendly hug. Hitomi   
smiled at him and congratulated him on his engagement. Amano and her had always been   
on good terms despite the fact that there had been a short amount of time when he had   
been taken in by her and she had always had the tendency to be a bit nervous around him.   
When he and Yukari began dating their friendship had actually strengthened, they were   
both comfortable with each other and had rid themselves of that nervousness that always   
accompanied first love.   
  
"Its great to see you again Hitomi," he said with genuine feeling in his voice.  
  
She smiled and returned the compliment.  
  
"You grew your hair out," he said, "it really fits you."  
  
He wrapped an arm around Yukari, and Hitomi began to feel a bit awkward.  
  
"Thanks," she said.  
  
The trio was silent for a moment and Yukari excused herself to go to the bathroom, and   
Hitomi and Amano were left alone.  
  
"So how have you been, Hitomi?" he asked, struggling to end the silence.  
  
"I've been fine, school has been busy, and since graduating I have been trying to slow   
down," she said.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Hitomi, Yukari has written to me, and she has been really worried about you. She wrote   
that you've been really withdrawn lately," he said.  
  
Hitomi nodded, she wasn't surprised that Yukari had voiced these thoughts to Amano, he   
was one of her main confidantes, and it wasn't like Yukari hadn't told her this herself.  
  
"I am fine, really, Amano, I have just been sad about school ending and all. You don't have   
to worry," she said.  
  
He nodded, but it was the same look Yukari had given her; the look of disbelief, and doubt.   
She didn't want to argue with him. They fell into an even more awkward silence and Hitomi   
was relieved when Yukari returned.  
  
Amano ended up tagging along with Hitomi and Yukari to the movie. The movie was okay,   
and Hitomi and Yukari spent most of their time throwing popcorn at the people in front of   
them and duck so that they wouldn't be caught. Amano commented that it was sometimes   
hard to believe that they had graduated from high school with such behavior.  
  
The day went on without any more awkward silences or daydreams, and when Hitomi got   
home, she greeted her parents and headed up to her room. She looked out the window and   
sighed. Another day was over, and she could feel the sense of isolation and loneliness   
settle in like it did every night. She wished someone was there, and help ease the dull ache   
in her heart.  
  
******************  
  
She dreamed of him again. They were in the woods, and lounging in the base of a large   
tree. Words were indistinguishable, but he was talking to her with great animation and   
enthusiasm, and suddenly she saw it as if she wasn't in her body. She saw herself lying in   
the nook of his arm and the look on her face was one of utter contentment. The   
contentment that she had been in want of for the past year and a half.  
  
Than the scene faded and was replaced by one where he was leading her in a hurry away   
from somewhere. She looked behind her and gasped, the place was consumed in fire, and   
then the screams came and she couldn't hold back her screams, and hurried to follow him.   
The fire and the screams etched into her brain.  
  
******************  
  
She awoke with a light sheen of sweat dripping down her face. The images of her dream   
still fresh in her mind. She prayed to whatever god there was in heaven that it was just a   
nightmare and not a vision. She hadn't had a single one since she had returned, and she   
couldn't dream why they would come back.   
  
She tried to calm her rapidly beating heart and got into a similar outfit as the one she worn   
yesterday for running with the exception that is one was a cotton jacket with a silver zipper   
and the sports bra was exposed. She had a feeling it was going to be a bit warmer than   
usual.  
  
She ran harder than she usual did, trying to get rid of the dream, she ran so hard that she   
soon surpassed her usual distance, and soon found herself on the path along the cliffs   
outside the city limits. She stopped and took awhile to calm her heart.  
  
She looked around and cursed under her breath at her foolishness. She never meant to go   
so far from her usual route, and she had begun to feel dizzy and disoriented. There was no   
way she could try to make it back in this condition. She took a step back and felt her foot   
slip and her body tumble backward, however she found that ground behind her was slanted   
down, and she was unable to regain her balance and she began to roll down the hill. She   
covered her head with her hands and waited for the slant to taper off but it never did, and   
soon she did not feel ground beneath her at all. She felt the wind rush past her, and her   
mind went blank. She reached out and caught a protruding rock from the cliff and she felt   
her body slam hard against the rocks. She felt the blood trickle down her face and she shut   
her eyes. She hung for dear life to the rock, but she knew that she couldn't hold on forever,   
and that path was not well traveled. And her mind gave one grave cry.  
  
'Someone help me! Please!'  
  
And all of a sudden a bright blue light streamed down from the sky, and just as her fingers   
slipped from the rock, she felt two strong arms wrap around her and a protective warmth   
surrounded her.  
  
******************  
  
The rain fell over the capital of Fanelia. In a room on the upper floors a lone candle was lit.   
A young man of about eighteen rotations was flipping through a book of accounts, looking   
pleasantly bored.  
  
Van Slanzer de Fanel had never known that being a king could be boring. Ever since the   
reconstruction of Fanelia, he had found that there was surprisingly little to do. Sure the   
"advisers" were always asking him to do things, but they were usually trivial and were   
covered by others. He had a lot of free time, and he was beginning to have trouble filling   
up that time.  
  
It probably wouldn't have been so bad if he had had someone to share it with. For awhile   
Merle would have stuck around him but a bard named Paolo had come and being a cat boy,   
he and Merle had struck up a sort of friendship with him. Actually Merle would spend her   
time nagging at him, and he would listen but pretend to not be listening and this would   
make Merle angry, and she would explode and he would smile knowingly. It sort of made   
him jealous, the one constant companion that he had had all his life was branching out and   
found someone else to look after. He was selfish, he knew. He didn't like sharing Merle's   
protectiveness with someone else, and he knew that it was foolish, but he sort of resented   
Paolo for that.  
  
Plus it made him feel a lot more lonely. At nights after the acts of the days were over and   
he was on his own in his chambers he couldn't help but wish there had been someone   
waiting for him, and having a person's full attention on him, and just caring. Not that Merle   
still didn't do it anymore it was just less frequent and he could see that her thoughts were   
ever more on the bard. It had now become a constant rumor that Merle had formed an   
attachment to Paolo. Needless to say, this did no please him, but that was for the reasons   
stated above.  
  
Than there was that nagging little voice that he wished would go away would come and tell   
him that losing Merle's sole attention wasn't the only reason he was jealous. There was   
another reason, one that he was afraid to admit to himself. He wanted what Merle had   
found. He wanted someone who would stay with him. And that annoying and bothersome   
voice would say that he had a CERTAIN someone in mind. And he would push it away, and   
say that that would never happen. That THAT certain someone didn't belong here, and that   
he could never ask her what that voice wanted him to ask. But than it asked why, couldn't   
he at least give a shot, maybe, just maybe, she might feel the same way. But than he   
would reply that that was impossible and that it had been over two and a half rotations, she   
had most likely forgotten him by now and moved on.  
  
He closed the book and looked out at the at the rain drops that were softly hitting against   
the window. It calmed him and he his thoughts calmed down, and for awhile he felt at   
peace. There was no use going over what could have been or what could be. He had   
another day to look forward to, and he was sure his advisers would have plenty to nag him   
on in the morning. And so he laid down on his bed and it wasn't long before the waves of   
sleep overtook him.  
  
******************  
  
He had much the same dream that Hitomi had, only in the reverse. He saw her lying   
against him, her hair was longer than it had been the last time he had seen her. She was   
talking but he could not distinguish her words. All he could see was the smile on her face   
and the one on his own. It was the moment he wanted more than anything.   
  
And then the scene was split, and he found himself rushing, Hitomi running behind her. He   
felt the heat on the back of his neck and he stopped and turned, and he saw the flames   
reaching into the sky. For a moment he thought it was an image of Fanelia burning to the   
ground again, but it wasn't it was some unfamiliar place. And than the screams hit him,   
and he had never heard a sound as bad as those screams. If this had been real they would   
have stayed with him until he died, a part of him knew that they were going to anyway.  
  
******************  
  
In order to dispel the memory of the dream, no nightmare, he willingly paid more attention   
to the advisers. Although part of him was annoyed by their nagging. He knew he was   
young for a ruler, but he had been through the worst war in Gaea's history had helped fully   
reconstruct his country from absolute ruin, and they worried that he wouldn't be able to   
decide on what to do about a measly rodent problem, or the latest output of Fanelian goods.   
They would not let him do things on his own. Every thing he had to be consulted on, things   
that seemed so frivolous had to get their approval first. He wasn't used to dealing harshly   
with people, and it was hard for him to combat their demands, he knew that he had much   
to learn about ruling a country.  
  
Soon not even his wish to dispel the memory of his dream was enough to keep him staying   
with them any longer, and he soon excused himself and walked through the castle grounds   
to calm himself down. Soon the fresh mountain hair which his country was notorious for set   
in and he felt a calm come over him.  
  
He could bet that no one loved their country the way he loved Fanelia. He loved its people,   
its land, its culture, and its spirit. He would do anything to insure its stability and   
happiness. He loved taking walks through the capital speaking with the people, and he   
would always stop to admire a new baby, or the new calf, or to be consulted on repairs to a   
leaky roof. If the people of Fanelia had a problem they could turn to their king to solve it.   
He felt pride just thinking about it. And he wanted to share it with someone, and he turned,   
and he realized that nobody was there.  
  
He walked to the memorial and stared at the monuments to those who had died, and he   
sighed. He looked to the right and saw the vines that covered the sleeping Escaflowne. The   
guymelef was almost completely hidden from view, and that pleased him. As long as it was   
hidden, it would never be used. He subconsciously held the pendent that was hanging   
around his neck. He felt the calm that the simple action gave him, and he could almost   
imagine that she was there, with him.  
  
He didn't notice that it began to glow, in a way it hadn't done in two and a half years. And   
it wasn't until he felt a jolt in his chest that he realized that something was happening, and   
then the desperate cry came to him. And it was sickeningly familiar.  
  
'Someone help me! Please!'  
  
It couldn't be, but it sounded like her. And his heart began to race, and closed his eyes,   
and he literally felt the blue light surround him. He felt the ground dissolve from beneath   
him, and he knew he was in between Gaea and the Mystic Moon. He subconsciously   
unfurled his wings and waited until it settled. He was over a body of water, and he turned   
trying to find what had brought him there. And he found it. On a nearby cliff he saw her   
clinging to a cliff trying desperately to pull herself up. Without another second he rushed to   
her and just as she was about to plunge down to an almost certain death, he grasped her,   
and felt the weight put a strain on his wings, but he could not keep his eyes from her.   
There was a cut on her head. She looked up at him, and there was a light in her eyes that   
he knew must not have been there before. She reached up with a trembling hand and   
gently touched his cheek.  
  
"Van?"  
  
It was almost a whisper, she was unsure. It was as if she didn't believe that he was really   
there.  
  
"I'm here," he said just as softly, cradling the feeling of her in his arms.  
  
She smiled, and a single tear fell down her cheek and mixed with the blood of the cut on her   
forehead.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
She nodded, trying to find the words to say. She couldn't believe he was here, holding her.   
She had often imagined what there reunion was like, but she had never imagined the   
feelings she would feel when it happened. She suddenly felt woozy and she clutched tightly   
to him, trying to regain her senses.  
  
He steadied her and began to gently lower himself, she need attention, she was beaten up   
pretty badly obviously from her fall, and he didn't want to make her injuries worse. Just as   
he was about to touch the ground, the pillar returned, and they were both enveloped in the   
light.  
  
******************  
To Be Continued…  
******************  
  
Well did you like it, please tell me, I really need your feedback. Love, Arimi. 


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